Direction of Arrival Estimation of GPS Narrowband Jammers Using High-Resolution Techniques

Area of Science:

• Navigation Systems
• Signal Processing
• Electromagnetics

Background:

• Global Positioning System (GPS) jamming poses a significant threat to navigation and timing applications.
• Accurate jamming detection, particularly Direction of Arrival (DOA) estimation, is crucial for effective mitigation.
• Challenges arise with narrow spatial separation between multiple jamming sources, leading to detection errors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the anti-jamming detection capabilities of GPS receivers.
• To improve the accuracy of Direction of Arrival (DOA) estimation for single and multiple jamming signals.
• To refine the mitigation process by ensuring correct jammer identification and localization.

Main Methods:

• The study proposes an enhanced array processing method for GPS receivers equipped with Uniform Linear Array (ULA) and Uniform Circular Array (UCA).
• Fast Orthogonal Search (FOS) algorithm is utilized for accurate DOA estimation of in-band Continuous Wave (CW) jammers.
• Performance is benchmarked against classical methods and Multiple Signal Classification (MUSIC).

Main Results:

• The proposed FOS-based method achieves higher accuracy in DOA estimates compared to existing techniques.
• Accurate estimation of jammer amplitudes is achieved.
• The method correctly identifies the number of jamming sources, even in challenging scenarios with narrow spatial separation.

Conclusions:

• The enhanced FOS method significantly improves GPS receivers' anti-jamming performance.
• Accurate jammer detection prevents erroneous spatial attenuation of legitimate GPS signals.
• This research contributes to more robust and reliable GPS applications in the presence of jamming threats.